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Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin
Berlin in 1948
Born
Israel Beilin

(1888-05-11)May 11, 1888
Tolochin, Belarus, Russian Empire
DiedSeptember 22, 1989(1989-09-22) (aged 101)
New York City, U.S.
Occupations
  • Composer
  • lyricist
Spouses
Dorothy Goetz
​
​
(m. 1912; died 1912)​
​
​
(m. 1926; died 1988)​
Children4, including Mary Ellin Barrett
Musical career
Genres
Years active1907–1971
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1918–1919
Rank Sergeant
Unit152d Depot Brigade
Battles/warsWorld War I

Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; Yiddish: ישראל ביילין;[1] May 11, 1888[2] – September 22, 1989) was an American composer and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Gerald R. Ford in 1977. Broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite stated he "helped write the story of this country, capturing the best of who we are and the dreams that shape our lives".[3]

Born in Imperial Russia, Berlin arrived in the United States at the age of five. He published his first song, "Marie from Sunny Italy", in 1907, receiving 33 cents for the publishing rights,[4] and became known as the composer of numerous international hits, starting with 1911's "Alexander's Ragtime Band". He also was an owner of the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. For much of his career, Berlin could not read sheet music, and was such a limited piano player that he could only play in the key of F-sharp; he used his custom piano equipped with a transposing lever when he needed to play in keys other than F-sharp.[5] He was known for writing music and lyrics in the American vernacular: uncomplicated, simple and direct, with his stated aim being to "reach the heart of the average American," who he saw as the "real soul of the country".[6]

He wrote hundreds of songs, many becoming major hits, which made him famous before he turned thirty. During his 60-year career he wrote an estimated 1,500 songs, including the scores for 20 original Broadway shows and 15 original Hollywood films, with his songs nominated eight times for Academy Awards.[1] Many songs became popular themes and anthems, including "Alexander's Ragtime Band", "Blue Skies", "Easter Parade", "Puttin' on the Ritz", "Cheek to Cheek", "White Christmas", "Happy Holiday", "Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)", and "There's No Business Like Show Business". His Broadway musical This Is the Army (1942) was adapted into the 1943 film of the same name.[7][user-generated source]

Berlin's songs have reached the top of the US charts 25 times and have been extensively re-recorded by numerous singers. Berlin died in 1989 at the age of 101. Composer Douglas Moore sets Berlin apart from all other contemporary songwriters, and includes him instead with Stephen Foster, Walt Whitman, and Carl Sandburg, as a "great American minstrel"—someone who has "caught and immortalized in his songs what we say, what we think about, and what we believe."[6] Composer George Gershwin called him "the greatest songwriter that has ever lived",[8]: 117  and composer Jerome Kern concluded that "Irving Berlin has no place in American music—he is American music."[9]

  1. ^ a b Kimball, Robert; Linda Emmet, eds. (2001). The complete lyrics of Irving Berlin (reprint ed.). Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. XXI. ISBN 978-1557836816.
  2. ^ "Irving Berlin". Irving Berlin. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  3. ^ Carnegie Hall, May 27, 1988, Irving Berlin's 100th birthday celebration
  4. ^ Starr, Larry and Waterman, Christopher, American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3, Oxford University Press, 2009, pg. 64
  5. ^ Marcus, Gary (January 19, 2012). Guitar Zero. Penguin Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-1101552285.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NYT-obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "This Is the Army (1943)", IMDb, retrieved September 6, 2017
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gershwin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-87 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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